Underneath It All
by JonK12690
Summary: Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny are all set to take a cross country tour of the U.S.! But after all these four have been through, will their feelings allow them to have a good time, or will they all break down under pressure from their intense emotions?
1. Indecision

The day had finally come. Hermione Granger walked out of her front door and basked in the sunlight. She couldn't believe how perfect the weather was. The sun shone brightly enough that it brought out the richest greens, reds, pinks and whites in her mother's rather large flowerbed outside her house. The sky was as blue as she could ever remember. It was almost as blue as his…

"Hermione! Where are you dear?" Hermione's mother was calling for her now, undoubtedly to discuss some minute details about her upcoming trip.

She couldn't wait for the vacation to start. After all they had been through in their still young lives Hermione and her closest friends needed a break, Harry most of all. She still couldn't believe the raw courage Harry possessed. He grew up in a home where backstabbing and lying were normal everyday occurrences, so Hermione knew there was no way Harry had obtained his keen sense of right or wrong from the Dursleys.

_He must've gotten it from his parents_ she thought to herself. Most people wouldn't have been so eager to accept their fate as Harry had, and Hermione had incredible amounts of respect for him. Harry, brave as he was, was far from perfect though. He often times began things without making a plan of action, at least that was the way he was when Hermione had first met him. If Hermione could pass on one thing to Harry through their very close friendship it was that he would take the time to think things through more often than he used to.

'Hermione **I need you** in the kitchen dear!" Hermione recognized that tone. It could be described as the "get your arse in gear" tone. Today was going to be a perfect day, and she didn't want to spoil it in any way.

"Yes, mum?" Hermione said with a soft smile. She had just gotten out of the shower not too long before and her long, wavy and uncontrollable brown hair was still quite damp. The color of Hermione's hair seemed to make Hermione's brown eyes much brighter and much more appealing.

"I need you to help me make the rest of these cookies hun." Her mom instructed. "You can't expect to go traveling with someone and go empty handed, can you?"

"No I suppose that would be rather rude, wouldn't it?" Hermione said with a bit of sarcasm and a smile.

"You watch your tone young lady." Though Mrs. Granger had tried to remain firm, she couldn't help but smile as she said this. She was so happy to see Hermione in such a joyous state. "Here start making this bowl into cookies and put them in when you're done, I've already pre-set the oven for you." Hermione half rolled her eyes as her mother spoke to her like she was still 12 years old.

"I think I can handle it mum." Hermione replied. She really was appreciative that her mother had agreed to help her out with the preparations for her trip at all.

Then Hermione began to let her mind wander as she thought about the upcoming trip. She couldn't believe that she was going to be traveling across the United States of America! She had read all about the states of course, but it wasn't the same as seeing them in person, or so she had read. The idea originally sprung up when Mr. Weasley had confiscated what had been described to her in a letter from Ginny as a rather large automobile that was so enormous that it had beds inside. She was pretty sure that Ginny had been talking about an RV. Hermione had never been inside one, but she had seen them many times in her neighborhood.

According to Ginny, Mr. Weasley obtained the RV when his department found it abandoned on the wizard/muggle border. After the Ministry gave it a full look-over, it was determined that it was safe, and that it had simply been abandoned. Since Mr. Weasley was now the department head, he was given the job of "disposing" it. But because Mr. Weasley loved muggle things so much, he couldn't bring himself to get rid of it. The ministry then deemed that it was ok for him to keep it. Needless to say Mr. Weasley had been thrilled, and demanded that his family and closest friends make use of it immediately.

A few of the Weasleys were going, but not all of them. Charlie was far too busy during the summer months with his dragons, and Bill and Fleur had just had their first child not even three months ago. Percy wouldn't be bothered with "things as silly as vacation", and George had his handful running Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley would be the "chaperones" on their trip.

Hermione couldn't wait to see her best friends again. Being an only child could be very tough on her. She only wished she had the problems Ron did. Ron often complained about the lack of privacy he had living in a home with at least 5 other people, but Hermione thought that that would be positively amazing. She felt so comfortable at the Weasley house every time she went there. There was always someone to talk to, someone to spend time with. At home she only had her parents to really spend time with. The lack of peers led Hermione to become a bit of a socially inept child. Her first year at Hogwarts had certainly showed that. Her parents had always kept her busy with things like piano lessons or dance class because they wanted her to be a well rounded person. Hermione now realized that they most likely did it so that she would not go mad with boredom being cooped up in her house every day after school.

Hermione thought about her two best friends. _What a couple of gits _she thought as a smile crept across her face. She was always saving their skins. _The only reason I'm even friends with them is because they saved me from a troll. I guess the fact that someone actually saved my skin for once made me like them_ she thought.

The three of them had grown so close over the years they spent at Hogwarts that they seemed like brothers to her. _Well…not exactly _she thought with a bit of a smirk on her face. _Ron is…different than Harry _she reasoned. She had never known why. She had never really bickered with Harry the way she did with Ron. _It's because he's just more of an idiot, is all _was Hermione's usual excuse she liked to give herself. But deep, deep down within her she knew that there was more to it than that. The logical part of her that had dominated her for the last 16 years was starting to lose its total control over her mind.

_I still can't believe I did that…_Hermione's mind went back to that day. It was the one bright spot of that day that stood out in her mind. _I actually kissed him…and he kissed me back…_Hermione could feel the heat rush to her cheeks. The moment was still so embarrassing for her that it made her blush while she sat in the kitchen by herself making cookies. She and Ron had never even spoke of the moment since its occurrence. The fact that it remained so clear in her mind made it painfully obvious that her feelings towards Ron differed from those she had towards Harry.

Sure, when Ron had left her and Harry to fend for themselves she had looked to Harry for comfort. But at no point had she thought about kissing Harry when Ron left them in the tent. She had moved her bed closer to Harry's for the first couple of nights, and shared a couple of longer-than-usual hugs with him, but that was the extent of it. Losing Ron felt like losing a part of her, and even though she had been absolutely furious with him she had never been more relieved in her life when he came back…

All of a sudden, Hermione got a whiff of something that smelled rather like burnt toast…

"The cookies!" She shouted as she ran from the seat at the kitchen table where she had been reminiscing to the oven. She turned it off immediately, got a pair of oven mitts and took the tray out. As she put the tray on the stove top she could hear her mother running down the stairs. She turned to the doorway and saw her mother looking at her, eyebrow raised and foot tapping.

"Think they'll like them a little crispy?" Hermione said with a sheepish smile. Her mother looked less than pleased.

"Oh Hermione…" her mother said with a sigh. "I suppose you're just not the cook that I am…" her mother said, this time with a bit of a smile. Hermione knew that her mother was aware of what had taken place.

Hermione had been daydreaming ever since she got the letter from Ginny. The prospect of spending stress free time with her closest friends almost seemed ludicrous. Very rarely had Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione ever been able to spend time together in which they weren't plotting an uprising or staging an escape plan. Hermione was actually worried that they may get bored too quickly. She laughed out loud at the idea of this but ceased when she heard several taps against her kitchen window.

It was Pig, the Weasley's owl. Hermione's smile only grew wider as she ran to the window to allow Pig inside. The letter was of course addressed to her. However she was surprised to see who had written it.

_Dear 'Mione,_

_We will be in your living room fireplace in about half an hour from the time this bloody slow owl reaches you, have all of your stuff together. My father is anxious to "get onto the road", whatever that means. See you soon!_

_Your friend,_

_Ron _

Hermione had honestly expected Ginny to write her, as Ginny was the one who almost always did. However, she was very happy to hear from Ron. She had only heard from him once so far that summer, though it had only been a month and a half since they had last seen each other. Harry had written her three times though, and Ron's lack of responses worried her. She was so confused about her feelings, and she didn't really know who to turn to. Ginny was the best source she had, as Ginny was like a sister to her. Not to mention she was Ron's sister.

Hermione had asked Ginny about Ron's reaction to the kiss she had ambushed Ron with, but Ginny didn't know very much at all, other than the fact that it did happen. Apparently Ron wasn't talking much about it, because Harry told her that Ron hadn't mentioned it to him either. Hermione knew that they would have to talk about it eventually; she just hoped that it wouldn't make the trip completely awkward. She ran upstairs to grab her bag. She had had it packed for a week now. Hermione had always liked to be prepared, but even she was shocked at the level of detail she took in packing her trunk. She had picked out what she deemed to be her "cutest" outfits, a pair of pajamas to sleep in, and a couple of swimming suits. She had never been swimming with the boys before, and she wasn't sure if she would be comfortable wearing the suits while they were around. She had never really been all that self confident. Her mum had always told her that she was a pretty young lady, but Hermione never thought too much of that, as she assumed her mother would tell her that whether she truly was or not. However, after being asked to the Yule Ball by Viktor Krum, she was forced to reevaluate herself.

_Perhaps I am fancy-able…_she thought to herself. Ginny had told her countless times that she was a good looking girl, but Hermione could never be sure if Ginny was simply doing this for her because she was like her sister. The only way she could ever truly know for sure is if someone showed some interest in her. Ron seemed to at times, but he had always been rather difficult to gauge. Harry was strictly a friend, and the thought of Harry fancying her or herself fancying him was just…unimaginable.

As she picked up her trunk she heard a rather loud thud downstairs in her living room. Hermione grinned from ear to ear and raced downstairs, turning the corner. Her eyes met those of the first person to arrive, and all she could see was the blue, blue sky.


	2. Reunion

Hermione wanted to shout. She wanted to scream. The joy inside her was fighting and clawing its way out of her, but she finally managed to repress it. After a few seconds of internal struggle, Hermione managed to let out a tiny squeak that sounded something like…

"Hello Ron…" Hermione was praying that someone else would arrive any second now to relieve the awkwardness in the room. However, it seemed as though her prayers were going unanswered. Finally after what seemed like ages of the two of them simply standing there blushing at each other Ron managed to force a greeting out of himself

"Hey Hermione…" Ron said as he looked down at his rather large feet.

Hermione giggled in her head. _His feet really are big…_Hermione thought. _Ginny wasn't joking around when she said that._ For a few more seconds the two of them stood there in awkwardness. She had no idea what to expect. She started to move closer to him to try and hug him, and Ron did the same. They met for what most definitely felt like a forced hug, stepped back and smiled sheepishly at each other, both of them a very deep shade of red at this point. Though the hug had felt slightly forced, Hermione did feel a sort of comfort in Ron's embrace. The hug had awoken something inside of her, and it made her feel a little bit warmer inside. It was of course at this very same moment that the others began to arrive. They heard another large crash, but before they could step back from their embrace, Ron and Hermione were once again put through an embarrassing moment.

"Well well well, what have we here?" An all too familiar voice said in a devilish manner.

"Oh don't be such a git, Harry." Ron said. "We were only hugging."

"Yes, that was very git-like of you." Hermione said with a wide grin on her face. "Or should that be gittish?"

"For once it seems I've stumped THE Hermione Granger." Harry continued to laugh with a grin on his face. Harry walked over to Hermione and hugged her.

_It really is nice to see them again. They make me feel…safe._ "Where is everyone else?" Hermione said to her two new house guests. Almost at the exact same moment, several more thuds rang out. Ginny, Arthur and Molly Weasley all entered Hermione's living room, covered in layers of soot. Hermione was now covered in it as well, since she had already hugged the two boys. "Ginny!"

"Hermione!" Ginny shouted back as the two girls ran to each other for a much overdue hug. Ginny was like a sister to Hermione, she had been since Hermione's second year. She was the one that Hermione told everything too, from her most embarrassing moments in her classes to the boys she thought were cute.

"Hello there Hermione." Mr. Weasley said in a matter-of-fact tone. He extended his hand for a friendly handshake, but Hermione walked right past his outstretched hand and hugged him instead. "Oh…goodness" Mr. Weasley said with a bit of shock in his voice. Clearly he hadn't expected the hug, but he returned it just the same. Mrs. Weasley practically plowed her way through the crowd of people to reach Hermione, whom she scooped up for a very forceful hug.

"Oh Hermione dear we've all missed you so much." Mrs. Weasley said as she beamed at Hermione. "The burrow just hasn't been the same without your charm."

"Which part, the bossiness or the 'I know everything' attitude?" Ron said with a grin. Hermione then let out a very false laugh, and waited until Mr. and Mrs. Weasley looked away before giving Ron a good smack on his arm. "Ow!" He exclaimed.

"Let's face it mate, you deserved that one." Harry said with a bit of a laugh.

"Maybe but not that hard…" Ron replied.

"Oh did big bad Hermione hurt poor Ronniekins?" Ginny said, imitating her twin brothers. A month ago doing so would have only brought sadness, but with time the pain of losing Fred was beginning to pass, and making jokes in his style was one of their ways of honoring his memory.

They all had a laugh at Ginny's joke, except for Ron, who retained his frown and wrinkled nose.

"If I had hit Hermione like that you'd all be ganging up on me!" Ron protested. "Why does she get away with it?"

"Because you hit her first, you were asking for it." Harry said matter-of-factly. Ron let out a sigh.

"Some things never change, do they?" Ron said, and he couldn't help but smile.

By this time, Mr. and Mrs. Granger had walked in and greeted their guests. They offered all of them a spot of tea, but Mr. Weasley insisted that they needed to get going.

"We are meeting up with the rest of the group in an hour, and we cannot be late." Mr. Weasley said rather forcefully.

"What does he mean the rest of the group?" Hermione whispered to Ginny.

"I think there are other families coming too." Ginny whispered back.

"The Lovegoods and Longbottoms will be traveling together in Mr. Lovegood's RV." Mr. Weasley stated. "There are other families that have signed up to go with us, though I am not sure who. They will all be renting RVs so that they may come along."

"Oh god no, does this mean we'll have to deal with Malfoy?" Harry said with disgust.

"No Harry. He hates muggles, remember?" Hermione replied quickly.

"Good, but it might mean we have to deal with some people we'd rather not see." Ron said with a bit of a sigh.

"Relax you three; I'm sure it will be fine." Ginny said to the trio. "Am I the only one who can maintain a level head here?" All four of them looked around at each other for a few seconds, and burst out laughing.

_It feels good to see them all again…_

Hermione had never felt happier. Finally, after all they had been through they were going to be able to just be normal. Hermione's mind traced back to her thoughts earlier that day. She realized now that the events the four of them, especially Ron, Harry and herself, had experienced together had not made them become friends. They simply opened doors to friendships that could not have been denied.

"Alright everyone, time to go!" Mr. Weasley was getting very impatient.

"Oh Arthur relax." Mrs. Weasley snapped. Still, none of them could wait to go on their trip. Hermione took this last moment to say goodbye to her parents.

"Goodbye Mum and Dad. I'll be sure to write you." She said to her parents.

"Hermione, we want you to know that we are so very proud of you." Mrs. Granger had tears in her eyes now.

"Mum stop it." Hermione giggled. "You're going to make me cry too."

"Oh and Hermione--one more thing." Her father spoke up. "Listen your mother and I are very aware of your feelings towards Ronald."

"What do you mean!?" Hermione was shocked. She couldn't possibly have led them to believe that she had feelings for Ron. She wasn't still **entirely** sure herself. She had never said anything of the sort to them that would indicate even the slightest bit of affection…

"We saw when Ron got here" her father continued. "We were going to come in, but then we thought it best to let you say hello to him first." Hermione was a deep pink now. "You were so pink I thought you were a pig, at first…" her father said with a laugh.

"Very funny" Hermione replied, trying to hold back a smile. "But I really don't know what you're talking about."

"Well sweetie you don't get that way around Harry."

"Erm…well it's mostly because I…erm…" Hermione couldn't find any legitimate excuse. She was biting her lip and trying as hard as she could, but no words seemed to come to mind. The only thing she kept thinking of was the kiss she had shared with Ron. She kept thinking about how their lips touching had sparked a massive wildfire of emotions inside of her. Her parents had backed her into a corner on this one, and they knew it.

"I just didn't know what to say to him since his brother died." She snapped. _There…that's a legitimate excuse. It would explain the awkwardness._

"Hermione we know how clever you are." Her father said, grinning as he was trying to dig up Hermione's feelings. "We're fairly positive you would have been able to muster a 'How are you?' or a 'How's your family taking it?' pretty easily."

"I just didn't want to say anything that would upset him was all" Hermione snapped. She was becoming very defensive. "I should really be off now…" Hermione was trying to slither out of the invisible cage her parents had locked her in.

"Sweetie we just wanted to give you this one piece of advice." Her mother said lovingly. "We know you tend to use your head…a lot." Hermione let out a small laugh in agreement. "But when it comes to boys, all you can do is listen to your heart. It will always tell you right from wrong." Her mother was smiling quite overbearingly now, and tears were again brimming in her eyes. Hermione could even feel some starting to surface in her own eyes as well.

"I…I will, mother. I promise." Hermione and her mother were looking at each other with the upmost of admiration. This had been the first time her mother had really been willing to talk with Hermione about boys and give her any advice of the romantic variety. They hugged each other tightly, and after a while they separated so Hermione could hug her father as well.

Hermione could hear footsteps closing in fast.

"Come on 'Mione! We've got to get going!" Ron shouted as he rounded the corner. Clearly he had been expecting them to be upstairs, so when he rounded the corner and saw the three Grangers engaged in one rather large hug, he was rather embarrassed.

"Oh, I'm uh…sorry about that. I'll just…wait in the…other room." Ron struggled to find the words and strode off as quickly as possible.

"Wow hun, he gets as red as you do." Hermione's father said with a laugh. Hermione shot him a look, but gave him a smile.

"Good luck dear!" Mrs. Granger shouted. "Let us know how everything goes! Write us as soon as you figure out where you're stopping for the night!"

"I will!" Hermione replied. She turned the corner and met Ron, who was still a little pink in the face. Hermione became pink almost instantly as well, as if Ron's embarrassment had been contagious.

"Right…ready to go then?" He said with a small grin.

"Yes…yes I am" She replied with a smile. As if by instinct, the two of them took their only open hands and intertwined them for one brief moment before bursting into green flames.


End file.
